GENERAL NOTES ON SPINAL MOUNT WEAPONS

Spinal Mount Weapons, usually just referred to as 'Spinal Mounts' or
'Spinal Weapons', are the 'big guns' of space battles. The name refers to
their construction, a Spinal Mount is usually built into the long axis of
a space ship, and may even double as a structural component!

It should be noted, that although most of the weapons in this section are
quite large, for a small enough ship, even a pulse torpedo launcher or
needle beam could be considered a 'Spinal Mount'.

As a rule of thumb, for a weapon to be considered a Spinal Mount, it
should follow at least some of the following criteria:

A Spinal Mount Weapon should occupy at least 10%, and preferably 20% or
more, of the MASS of the ship.

A Spinal Mount Weapon should predominantly face forward, preferably it
should only fire into the fore (F) arc, more preferably, it should be a
Fixed Mount in the
straight ahead position. Technically, you could have a Spinal
Mount fixed to fire straight aft as well, but that is rather rare.

The Spinal Mount Weapon should be the most powerful weapon on the ship,
or among the most powerful.

Although the only Spinal Mount Weapons named as such in Full
Thrust are the Spinal Mount Nova Cannon (Full
Thrust, page 19–20), and the Wave Gun (More
Thrust page 3–4), there are several weapons in Fleet Book
2 that approximate to Spinal Mount Weapons;

The Kra'Vak Kinetic Guns (Fleet Book 2, page 9) often
occupy a reasonable proportion of the carrying ship's MASS, and
predominantly fire forward, although they are usually mounted on
outriggers, rather than along the ship's central axis.

The Phalon Plasma Bolt Launcher (Fleet Book 2, page 36)
also usually occupies a fair proportion of the ship's MASS, and is
mounted along the ships axis. They tend to have wider fire arcs than most
Spinal Mount Weapons however, and some of the larger Phalon ships carry
additional, smaller Plasma Bolt Launchers in outrigger pods.

Spinal Mount weapons often have some special restrictions, for instance,
firing a Spinal Mount Nova Cannon is the only action the
carrying ship can perform in a turn, Wave Guns require charging up,
cannot be fired in the same turn any other weapons are fired, and disable
the forward arc screens of the carrying ship. They also inflict damage
upon the carrying ship if they fail a threshold check while charged.
Plasma Bolt Launchers can only be fired on every other turn. Another
possible restriction is that a Spinal Mount Weapon is hard to repair or
cannot be repaired as it doubles as a structural component of the ship.

As a final note, although a weapon may be listed in this section, it need
not be classified as a Spinal Mount Weapon if it is installed upon a
large enough ship.

BOBBLER (AKA STASIS BUBBLE PROJECTOR)

[Noam Izenberg]

The 'Bobbler' creates a large, spherical field within which all time
either comes to a complete stop, or passes at a rate so slow with respect
to space 'outside' the field that it makes no practical difference. For
the sake of Game Balance, the 'Stasis Bubbles' or 'Bobbles' created by
this weapon are of only short-term duration.

To determine whether a Bobbler affects a target ship, and if so, for how
long, roll 1 die: On 1-3, no effect; 4-5, target 'Bobbled' for 1 turn; 6,
target 'Bobbled' for 2 turns, and re-roll for additional duration. The
Bobble duration can be tracked with a die or marker that travels with the
'Bobbled' ship.

Bobbled ships may not perform any action, nor can they be targeted or
take damage in any way. Bobbled ships maintain their heading and speed
from the turn that they were 'bobbled' until the effect expires.

Collisions of Bobbled ships with planets or stars do no damage to the
Bobbled ship. Ricochets off planets and/or what happens after the bobble
pops when a ship is deep inside a gas giant (or star) are left as an
exercise for the reader.

Bobbles may be nested. A Bobble inside another does not "age" until the
outer Bobble pops.

The range of a Bobbler is determined by its class and the MASS of the
target, using the following formula:

A ship may Bobble itself if its Bobbler class is 10% of its mass or
greater. The 'Bobbled' duration (between 1 and 3 turns) is written during
the orders phase of the turn of self-Bobbling. The Ship self-Bobbles
before the movement on this turn (say, during Phase
4) LAUNCH ORDNANCE), and 'unbobbles' at the end of the last turn
of bobbling, after all firing, etc. (say Phase 10)
TURN END). Self-Bobbled ships are not tracked
with a duration marker.

The Bobbler is a spinal mount weapon, and can thus can only be mounted to
fire in the Fore (F) fire arc, or the Aft (A) arc if desired.

The Bobbler has a MASS requirement equal to its class, and costs 3 points
per MASS.

ICON (example): (the
number is MASS/class of bobbler.
It would be helpful to write the range table on the SSD as well.

(inspired by The Peace War and Marooned in
Realtime by Vernor Vinge, and List comments by Laserlight)

C+ CANNON (AKA DARLINGTON SPACE
RIFLE)

[Bif Smith] (GZG-L 1-Feb-2001)

From Donald Hosford, the "Darlington Space Rifle",
I know as the C+ cannon, from the beserker series of novels, a very good
read. My two pennerth worth is a rail gun that projects a hyperspace
field around the projectile, popping the round into hyperspace, and the
field is charged to drop the round out of hyper at the point you
calculate the enemy ship will be. The hyperspace field is generated by
the hyperdrive on board the ship, and if the hyperdrive is disabled, the
gun cannot fire.

The projectile consists of a core made out of the
same material as a hyper space core, with a piece of anti-matter (AM),
contained in a sphere of superconductor magnets, to ensure that the AM
does not come into contact with any normal matter. When the projectile
hits the target, the magnets are smashed by the impact, allowing the AM
to come into contact with normal matter, and KABOOM!! A hit on the weapon
would detonate the magazine with the AM, detonating any AM still on
board, and probably destroy the ship itself.

The C+ Cannon is a placed marker weapon, like the
Salvo Missile Launcher, however, its range is as follows: for a 2mu
'attack radius' the range is 10mu per MASS of the FTL drive mass.
For an attack with a 0 mu 'attack radius' (the shot must pinpoint the
target exactly, i.e. only useful when attacking space stations or other
targets that cannot manoeuvre) the range is unlimited at Tactical game
scale. An undamaged FTL system is required for the C+ Cannon to
operate.

If the target is within 2 mu of the marker, the
round hits the target, bypassing all defences (armour, shields, PDS,
etc.), causing 3D6 damage points directly to the hull.

If rounds are damaged on-board the carrying ship,
it causes the same damage PER round to the carrying ship, as internal damage.

FTL can't be used to jump the ship while using this
weapon, and for 2D6 turns after last firing. The gun cannot be used until
1D6 turns after a ship has used its hyperdrive. If the gun is disabled,
but the magazine is untouched, the remaining rounds can be jettisoned to
prevent detonation from damage. The rounds can only be jettisoned at the
start of the turn, and must be written during orders phase on the
previous turn.

The C+ Cannon can only be fitted to fire into the
fore arc of the carrying vessel.

The C+ Cannon has a MASS requirement of 5 for the
actual cannon, and costs 25 points. The magazine requires a MASS of 1 for
every two rounds carried. Each round carried costs 3 points (6 points per
MASS of ammo).

ICON:

Comments/Analysis:

[Oerjan] My atomic physicist acquaintances would make
lots of fun of this, pointing out the average lack of "KABOOM" when AM
meets normal matter in this way. According to them it's more like a
slow fizzle, unless you have VERY large areas of AM meeting similarly
large areas of normal matter... and you don't get that without some
very careful arrangements <sigh>

This is another weapon which is inherently better on big ships
without being more expensive on them (they have to pay for the FTL
drive anyway!

Define "the target". Is it THE target (specified on
launch), or A target (either the nearest, or
"shooter chooses which target within range")? 2 mu gives a VERY small
target area.

FTL non-use for 2D6 turns is a pretty massive penalty... how come it
takes MORE energy to project a small shell a few hundred mu (at most)
than to jump the entire ship interstellar distances?

It is a lot harder to jettison a magazine than to jettison a damaged
power core.

[Charles] I agree with Oerjan's comments about anti-
matter, although this is probably not the place for a dissertation on the
subject. However, on the subject of the C+ Cannon's FTL disabling effect,
according to Fleet Book 1 it takes at least 6 hours
between FTL jumps, so unless you're using 1 hour turns, the FTL non-use
time is not unreasonable. What I would like to know is does the 'cannot
use C+ cannon until 1D6 turns after the ship has last used its FTL drive'
include the use of the FTL drive to operate the C+ cannon? The target
area should probably be enlarged, preferably to the same as SMLs. Also,
the Hyperspace Torpedo Launcher
is a very similar weapon, but with less restrictions.

ENHANCED BEAM BATTERIES

[David F. Stuckey (Feb 2002)]

Enhanced Beam Batteries are spinal–mounted units, usually Class 3
or greater with a forward arc of fire. Utilizing a
gravity–focussing system of a new type, the Enhanced Beam Battery
can focus fractionally better onto a target vessel and deliver more power
per hit making it useful at both long range attack and close–in
assault.

Proposed rules –

Add 1D6 to each range band when firing an Enhanced Beam Battery –
DO NOT add an extra range band, as the power is not increased that
significantly, only the ability to deliver it on target. Fire is
resolved normally.

The focussing gear adds 5/10/15% to the MASS of the weapon. (This is to
be decided...) Cost is to be 5/10% extra to Cost of weapon (Again, to
be decided... Note that the striking power is not increased greatly,so
it isn't like boosting the battery up to the next class size.)

If the system is damaged, the focussing gear is not able to be repaired
by onboard Damage Control Parties in the time frame of a game and/or
requires a dockyard operation (Involving major equipment to be used,
like repairing the gravity system of a ship for instance). So, if the
Enhanced Beam Battery is damaged and repaired, it is treated like a
single–arc standard battery of its class, e.g. a Japanese SDN
mounts a Class 5 Enhanced Beam Battery [They ain't fooling around...],
which is damaged during a lucky SM attack. If repaired it becomes a
standard Class 5 [which should be enough for most people anyway! ].

ICON:
(cross out the "!" after it has been damaged and repaired)

EXPANDING PLASMA BOLT LAUNCHER (EXPL)

[Charles Stanley Taylor] (via e– mail)

This could be a human development derived from the pulse torpedo, or a
Phalon weapon derived from the plasma bolt launcher, or even a Kra'Vak
weapon developed from their own K–gun technology combined with
reversed engineered Phalon technology, for example. It is inspired by the
Spinal Mount Nova Cannon (Full Thrust
2, page 19–20), and has an identical PSB, although this
version is both available in a number of classes, and is easier to defend
against.

The weapon uses a large railgun to fire a fast moving, expanding cloud of
plasma.

The weapon comes in a range of classes (even numbers only). The weapon
has to be mounted on a fixed
mount, facing directly forward.

The use of the EXPL is declared during Phase 4) LAUNCH ORDNANCE. The
player places the first template (of 2 mu diameter, or a marker may
suffice) 6 mu from the firing ship within the fire arc of the EXPL. The
template or marker should have some means of indicating its direction of
travel, and should be placed so that its direction is directly away from
the firing ship.

During the Phase 6) ALLOCATE ORDNANCE AND FIGHTER ATTACKS, the template
is moved 18 mu in the direction indicated on it. Any ship whose centre
point is touched by the template should be noted, probably by placing a
marker indicating the current strength of the Expanding Plasma Bolt at
that point. The initial strength of the EXP is equal to the class of the
launcher.
During Phase 7) POINT DEFENCE FIRE, any ship that was touched by the
template in Phase 6 may attempt point defence fire, resolved as if it
were against a Plasma Bolt (Fleet Book 2, page 36),
also, any ships equipped with area–defence weapons within 6 mu of
the template at any time may also use area defence against the Expanding
Plasma Bolt (EXP). Fighter groups may attack it as if it were a Plasma
Bolt. The effects of point defence fire causes a reduction in strength of
the EXP just as if it were a Plasma Bolt. Note, however, that these
reductions in strength only occur from the point the point defence fire
occurred.
The effects of the EXP are resolved during Phase 8) MISSILE, PLASMA BOLT
AND FIGHTER ATTACKS, each ship touched by the template suffers damage as
if it had been struck by a plasma bolt with a size equal to the strength
of the EXP at the point where it affected the ship (screens provide the
same defence as against plasma bolts.

On each successive turn, the template enlarges in diameter by 2mu, and
moves a further 24 mu. Its strength is reduced by 2 for each successive
turn. If an EXP was reduced in strength by point defence or area defence
fire, only half of this reduction is carried over to the next turn
(rounded down).
An EXP that is reduced to zero or negative strength AT THE BEGINNING
OF A TURN has burned out, and is removed from play.
For example, a Class 6 EXPL is fired, during the first turn it is
reduced in strength by 3 from point defence fire. At the beginning of the
second turn, the reduction is reduced to 1, giving a strength of 5, that
reduces to 3. It suffers no further point defence fire, so is reduced to
strength 1 at the beginning of the third turn, and at the beginning of
the forth turn it is reduced to strength –1, and burns out.

The MASS requirement and point cost of an Expanding Plasma Bolt Launcher
are given on the following table:

Class

MASS Requirement

Point Cost

2

3

9

4

6

18

6

12

36

8

24

72

For larger EXPL's, double the MASS for each increase in class by +2. The
cost is 3 points per MASS.

ICON:
(Alternative):
(Class 4) (Class
6) (Class
8)
(The number of 'stars' if half the class).

ION PULSE CANNON (AKA SPINAL MOUNT ION CANNON)

This is a massive EMP–type weapon, capable of knocking out many
ships systems at considerable range.

The Ion Pulse Cannon is a spinal mount, – it can only be fitted to
fire through the F arc of ships large enough to carry it. The cannon has
a range of 54mu and does threshold roles to ships hit, as shown below:

Range

To Hit

Effect

0–18mu

3+

Target ship makes a threshold roll for every system on board.
Systems are knocked out on rolls of 4+

18–36mu

4+

As above, but systems are knocked out on rolls of 5+

36–54mu

5+

As above, but systems are knocked out on rolls of 6 only.

The pulse of the Ion Pulse Cannon is powerful enough to overcome any
screens the target ship has, so screens have no effect against the blast.

The Ion Pulse Cannon has a MASS requirement of 16,
and can only be installed in Capital ships. It costs 3 points per
MASS.

ICON:

Comments/Analysis:

[WotW #2]This weapon was discussed as part of WotW #2,
however, no consensus was reached.[Noam] I suggest decreasing mass, and possibly range,
and allowing screens to modify threshold rolls by –1/level.[Oerjan] Yet another basic EMP gun; this time
long–ranged. Mass and cost for Full Thrust 2, not Fleet Book
X.[Charles] In some respects it is a 'big brother' to
Noam's Scrambler Pulse. The MASS
should be increased to 20, and the cost to at least 180 points,
alternatively, the range should be reduced.

M.A.D. GENERATOR AND CHARGES

The M.A.D. Generator weaponry consists of a
generator and charges. In order to use the charges a ship must have a
generator to set them off. Each charge fires off an immense shock wave at
a huge range, however the damage dissipates quickly. It order to use a
charge, the firing vessel must be at a complete stop. Firing a charge is
written in movement orders and announced with movement. Any ship would be
able to detect a power surge of that magnitude.

M.A.D. generators must activate each charge. Roll a
D6 each turn and add it to the running
total, when a total of 12 is reached, the charge may be fired on
the following turn. If the firing vessel is not at a complete stop, the
charge overloads and the carrying ship is destroyed. If the generator
should take a hit due to a failed threshold roll or a successful needle
beam attack, a number of damage dice equal to half the charge is applied
to the M.A.D. equipped ship as
internal damage.

Range

Damage

0–6mu

4D6

6–12mu

3D6

12–24mu

3D6

24–36mu

1D6

The M.A.D. Generator has a MASS requirement of 10,
and costs 50 points. Each charge costs an additional 50 points, but requires no additional MASS.

ICON:

Comments/Analysis:

[Noam] Arcs and areas of effect are not delineated.
Probably best thought of as a Wave Gun variant.
Some template needs to be made for it. The weapon is fragile and
over– restricted.[Charles] From the description, I get the impression
that it hits everything in the carrying ships forward arc (like my Wavefront Energy Field, but I agree with Noam –
It is too restricted, also, I suspect that the MASS and point cost are
pre– Fleet Book.

SPINAL MOUNT NOVA CANNON UPDATE

[Charles Stanley Taylor] (via e–mail)

This is just a set of guidelines on using a Spinal Mount Nova Cannon (see
Full Thrust page 19–20) with the updated
Fleet Book rules.

Under this revision, use of the Spinal Mount Nova Cannon (SMNC) is still
noted during Phase 1) WRITE ORDERS FOR ALL SHIPS, and is the only order
that can be written for the carrying ship (write "NOVA" or something).

The SMNC template is placed during Phase 4) LAUNCH ORDNANCE in a position
6 mu from the firing ship in the SMNC firing arc (the SMNC is counted as
a forward firing Fixed
Mount weapon; i.e. it has a half width forward–facing fire
arc). The direction arrow of the template must face directly away from
the firing ship.

The SMNC template is moved during Phase 8) MISSILE, PLASMA BOLT AND
FIGHTER ATTACKS, i.e. after ship movement but before normal weapons fire.
Unlike the similar Expanding Plasma Bolt point
defence fire has no effect on the bolt from a SMNC.

The SMNC uses a template as described on page 20 of Full
Thrust (however, if different sizes of mu are used, such as 1 mu
= 1 cm, then the templates should be scaled to the units used). The
template is moved as described on that page. On later turns the template
is replaced by progressively larger ones, and is moved as described. All
SMNC template movement occurs during Phase 8.

Any ships whose centre point is touched by the SMNC template takes damage
as described in Full Thrust. This damage is not reduced
by screens, but is not counted as penetrating, i.e. apply damage to
armour first, damage is only applied to hull after all of the armour has
been destroyed.

Use of the SMNC disables all other power–using systems that turn,
this includes all drives and weapon systems, PDS and screens, but does
not include 'passive' systems, such as stealth hulls (NOT stealth
systems), armour (including carapace and shell) etc.

The SMNC has the MASS and point cost listed for it in Fleet Book
1, page 11). A recommended further restriction is to require
that the SMNC–carrying ship has at least 20 MASS in other power
using systems, such as drives, etc. but not including FTL drives or
missile magazines as well as the SMNC.

CLASSED SPINAL MOUNT NOVA CANNON (CSMNC)

A 'classed' version of the Spinal Mount Nova Cannon is possible. This
would be handled exactly like the standard SMNC, except that the first
template would inflict 2D6 damage per class of the CSMNC, and each
progressively larger template would inflict 2D6 less damage than the one
previous to it.

Under this classification, the 'standard' SMNC would be a class 3.

A CSMNC has a MASS and points cost as shown on the table below,
additionally, it is recommended that the carrying ship should also have a
minimum MASS in other power–using systems (not including FTL drives
or missile magazines) equal to the MASS of the CSMNC.

SMNC Class

MASS Requirement

Point Cost

1

8

24

2

12

36

3

20

60

4

33

99

+1

Previous × 12/3

MASS ×3

ICONS: (Class
1) (Class
2) (Class
3) (Class
4)

SPATIAL DISCONTINUITY CANNON

[Charles Stanley Taylor] (via e–mail)

This was inspired by a conversation with a friend about the old Space
Battlecruiser Yamato 'Wave Motion Gun'. I liked the idea of a weapon
powered by the ships FTL drive.

This weapon uses the ships own FTL drive to create an unstable bubble in
space time, the bubble is then projected forwards (or aft) along the
ships main axis at light speed, expanding as it travels. Anything caught
in the area of effect takes damage both from space–time sheer
effects and because of the energy released as local space undergoes a
phase change (PSB overload! ).

In game terms, the weapon is used as follows; on the turn before the one
on which it is to be fired, the player writes that the firing ship is
powering its FTL drive for its written orders. All of the rules for
powering up an FTL drive apply (i.e. no manoeuvres or weapons fire). He
need not state the purpose of the FTL power up, but must announce it. As
an option, if sensor rules are in use, use of sensors may reveal the
purpose of the FTL power–up. Obviously, to do this, the FTL drive
must be functional.

On the next turn, the player writes orders as usual, the Spatial
Discontinuity Cannon (SDC) is fired like any other weapon when that ship
is activated during the Firing Phase.

The SDC does a number of D6 of damage equal to its class, minus 1 for
every full 12 mu of range. The beam is 2 mu wide per 12 mu of range (so,
at a range of 30 mu, the beam is 6 mu wide, and the damage is a number of
d6 equal to the Class–2). Damage is applied half to armour, and
half to hull (or the next layer of armour), and ignores screens and
vapour shrouds. Fighters and MT missiles in the area of effect are
destroyed. As an option, any ship with an FTL drive that is struck by an
SDC blast must make a threshold check for the FTL drive at its current
threshold level, or with a –1 penalty if the damage forces a normal
threshold check.

If the firing ship has its SDC fail a threshold between powering up the
FTL drive and firing the SDC, and fails to repair it during that turns
damage control phase, it must make a jump to FTL (and thus, flee the
board) on the turn when it would have been firing the SDC.

To fit a ship with an SDC, the ship must have a sufficiently large FTL
drive, there is no reason why a ship might not have an oversized FTL
drive (see Tugs and Tenders, Fleet Book 1, page 8),
also, if the ship has a sufficiently large FTL drive, it can mount more
than one SDC, however, all SDCs must face either forward or aft.

[Charles] Unfortunately, with the 'canon' Tuffleyverse
imposing a FTL cycle time of at least 6 hours, this weapon will not get
to fire very often! One way out is to assume that the weapon does not
require a full FTL charge–up, another possibility is to require
that the carrying vessel have an 'advanced' FTL drive (MASS is the
same, but it costs MASS ×3 points). In other genres/settings with
shorter FTL cycle times this may not be a problem.
Some of the features of this weapon may be incorporated into an
updated/variant Wave Gun, making this weapon
obsolete.

WAVE BEAM

Wave beams are a variant of the Wave Gun, and must be charged in
precisely the same way. Unlike a Wave Gun, however, Wave Beams are
targetable weapons. They choose a target anywhere in their front arc
which they fire a thin beam at, always hitting. If the target is from
0–12mu away, it suffers 4D6 of damage. From 12–24mu the
damage is 3D6, and from 24–36mu the damage is 2D6. Additionally,
draw a straight line from the center of the attacking ship to the center
of the target ship, any ships which this line intersects take damage as
though they were the target.

The Wave Beam has a MASS requirement of 12, and costs 36 points.

ICON:

Comments/Analysis:

[Charles] I think the 'ships between firer and target
take damage' feature could be discarded. The original version was for
the Full Thrust 2 rules, I've updated the MASS and
point cost to match the similar update to the MASS and point cost of
the Wave Gun in Fleet Book 1. I assume that all Wave
Gun restrictions not explicitly addressed above still apply.

WAVE GUN UPDATE

[Charles Stanley Taylor] (via e–mail)

This is just a set of guidelines on using a Wave Gun (see More
Thrust page 3–4) with the updated Fleet
Book rules.

The roll for Wave Gun charging is made during Phase 2) ROLL FOR
INITIATIVE. As an option, the firing of the Wave Gun should be declared
during Phase 4) LAUNCH ORDNANCE, while the actual Wave Gun fire is
resolved when the firing ship is activated during Phase 9) SHIPS FIRE.
This allows for Missiles to take advantage of the lack of PDS capability,
and for Plasma Bolts to take advantage of the lack of screens protecting
the carrying ships forward arc.

The Wave Gun has a Fixed
Mount fire arc. The range and template size are as described in
More Thrust, page 4, with the units changed if
necessary. The Wave Gun ignores screens and vapour shrouds, but, contrary
to what is stated in More Thrust does not ignore armour
(the More Thrust description applies to the pre–
Fleet Book 2 Kra'Vak armour, which is no longer in use).
Wave Gun damage should be treated as half–penetrating, like a Pulse
Torpedo (apply half the damage, rounded up, to armour, apply the
remainder to hull, or the next layer of shell armour).

Should the Wave Gun fail a threshold check due to damage or suffer a
successful Needle Beam attack, the carrying ship will suffer internal damage equal to the current
charge level.

To prevent the abuse of Wave Guns by mounting them on the smallest
possible hulls (which negates many of the Wave Gun disadvantages as the
systems that cannot be used in the same turn as the Wave Gun are not
there at all), the following options are suggested:

Instead of using the charging mechanic, give the wave gun a Rate of
Fire of 1 shot every N turns, where N = 36 ÷ MASS of carrying ships FTL
drive. In this case, if the Wave Gun is damaged, the carrying ship
suffers damage equal to N, alternatively, roll 1D6, if the result is N
or less, the carrying ship suffers the effects of a failed
Power Core Core Systems Threshold check.

The charging mechanic is used, however, the number of charges needed to
fire is equal to 126 ÷ MASS of carrying ships FTL drive.

The charging mechanic is used, however, instead of rolling 1D6 each
turn, the player rolls a number of dice equal to the MASS of the
carrying ships FTL drive × 0.25 (rounded to the nearest whole number);
each roll of 1–3 gives 0 charges, 4–5 gives 1 charge, and 6
gives 2 charges (no re–rolls).

The charging mechanic is used, however, the 1D6 roll for charging is
modified by adding a modifier equal to [Square Root of (1 + FTL MASS
×8)] ÷2 – 7 (rounded to the nearest whole number).

These mechanisms are based on the carrying ship's FTL drive MASS as this
provides a simple way of speeding up the rate of fire if required (buy a
Tug FTL drive), and for genre PSB reasons.

It may be helpful to modify the existing Wave Gun icon to provide a space
to record its current charge level, as follows:

Shows the Rate of Fire if using option 1 above.

Write the current charge level in the box if using a standard
More Thrust Wave Gun or options 2, 3, or 4 above.

As above, but the number to the left shows the number of charges
required to fire, which can be varied if using option 2 above.

Tick a number circles equal to the charge gained, the total number of
circles represents the charge needed to fire, and can be varied if
using option 2 above.

As above, but also shows the recharge rate, either as a D6 (standard
Wave Gun), a number of beam dice (option 3 above), or a modified D6
(i.e. D6–1, option 4 above).

CLASSED WAVE GUN

A 'classed' version of the Wave Gun is possible. This would be handled
exactly like the standard Wave Gun, except that the damage in the first
0–12mu would be a number of D6 equal to the class+1, in a path 2mu
wide. For each additional 12mu of range the path widens by 1mu, while the
damage drops by 1D6, the maximum range is that at which the damage is
2D6, thus:

Class of
Wave Gun

Damage at Range (in mu)

0–12

12–24

24–36

36–48

48–60

60–72

1

2D6

—

—

—

—

—

2

3D6

2D6

—

—

—

—

3

4D6

3D6

2D6

—

—

—

4

5D6

4D6

3D6

2D6

—

—

5

6D6

5D6

4D6

3D6

2D6

—

6

7D6

6D6

5D6

4D6

3D6

2D6

The MASS requirement, point cost, and charging rate of a Classed Wave Gun
is given on the following table:

Wave Gun

Rate of Fire/Charging option

Class

MASS Requirement

Point Cost

1) Rate of Fire

2) Charges to Fire

3) Charging Dice

4) Charge Die Modifier

1

6

18

144 ÷ FTL MASS

504 ÷ FTL MASS

FTL MASS ÷ 16

[SQRT(9 + FTL MASS ×72) – 42] ÷ 24

2

8

24

192 ÷ FTL MASS

672 ÷ FTL MASS

FTL MASS ×3 ÷ 64

[SQRT(9 + FTL MASS ×72) – 42] ÷ 32

3

12

36

288 ÷ FTL MASS

1008 ÷ FTL MASS

FTL MASS ÷ 32

[SQRT(9 + FTL MASS ×72) – 42] ÷ 48

4

18

54

432 ÷ FTL MASS

1512 ÷ FTL MASS

FTL MASS ÷ 48

[SQRT(9 + FTL MASS ×72) – 42] ÷ 72

5

27

81

648 ÷ FTL MASS

2268 ÷ FTL MASS

FTL MASS ÷ 72

[SQRT(9 + FTL MASS ×72) – 42] ÷
108

6

41

123

984 ÷ FTL MASS

3444 ÷ FTL MASS

FTL MASS ÷ 110

[SQRT(9 + FTL MASS ×72) – 42] ÷
164

+1

Previous ×1.5

MASS ×3

MASS ×24 ÷ FTL MASS

MASS ×84 ÷ FTL MASS

FTL MASS ×3 ÷ (MASS ×8)

[SQRT(9 + FTL MASS ×72) – 42] ÷ (MASS
×4)

The columns 1) to 4) refer to the 4 options for varying rate of
fire/charging rate based on the MASS of the carrying ship, above.

Under this classification, the 'standard' Wave Gun would be a class 3.

ICONS:
(Class 1)
(Class 2)
(Class 3)
(Class 4)

A charge indication could be added, as shown above.

WAVEFRONT ENERGY FIELD GENERATOR (WEF)

[Charles Stanley Taylor] (via e–mail)

(named by Oerjan Ohlson)
This weapon creates a rapidly expanding field of energy that fills an
entire fire arc out to the weapon range limit. The Wavefront Energy Field
(WEF) Generator is fired during the normal firing phase, for each ship
within its arc of fire roll a number of dice equal to its class, reduced
by 1 for every full 6 mu of range. The dice are treated like beam battery
dice with regards to determining damage, the effects of armour and
screens, etc. but with one exceptions, although rolls of 6 a
re–rolled, screens and armour still apply to the
re–rolls.

Fighter groups and MT missiles in the area of
effect treat the damage rolls as PDS fire (i.e. each damage point scored
removes 1 fighter or missile). Heavy fighters still get their defensive
bonus. (PSB – the damage field is clumpy, lucky fighters can dodge
through the gaps).

The WEF has a MASS and points cost as
follows:

Class

MASS Requirement

Point Cost

1

3

12

2

6

24

3

12

48

4

24

96

+1

Previous Class ×2

MASS ×4

ICON:

Comments/Analysis:

[Oerjan] (who can't remember naming the system) This
weapon is very effective against fighters and long–range MT
Missiles, but unless you fire it during the PDS phase rather than the
ship combat phase it'll have nil effect vs Salvo Missiles.